Infusion set

ABSTRACT

There is provided an infusion set capable of significantly reducing a period of time required for work of a worker during infusion. The infusion set includes a drip chamber, a tube which is connected to an outlet of the drip chamber, a roller clip which is provided in the tube, and an M clamp which is provided between the drip chamber and the roller clip in the tube and is used for storing liquid in the drip chamber. The tube has a first tube which can be mounted to an infusion pump device, a second tube which is connected to the outlet of the drip chamber and an inlet of the first tube, and a third tube which is connected to an outlet of the first tube. The M clamp is provided in the second tube, and the roller clip is provided in the third tube.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is a Divisional of U.S. patent application Ser. No.16/900,792 filed Jun. 12, 2020, which claims benefit of priority toJapanese Patent Application No. 2020-004576 filed Jan. 15, 2020, theentire contents of which are incorporated herein by reference.

BACKGROUND Field

The present invention relates to an infusion set.

Description of Related Art

There is an infusion set which is used during infusion such as bloodtransfusion. As shown in FIG. 8 , the infusion set typically incudes adrip chamber 200, an upstream tube 202 which is connected to a blood bag201 and the drip chamber 200, an upstream tube 204 which is connected toa saline bag 203 and the drip chamber 200, a tube 206 which is connectedto an outlet of the drip chamber 200, a roller clip 207 which isprovided in the tube 206 and can adjust the flow speed of an infusionsolution, and clamps 208 and 209 which are provided in the upstreamtubes 202 and 204, respectively. To the tip of the tube 206, a tipconnector 210 which can be connected to an indwelling needle which isalready inserted into a patient is attached.

When infusion is performed using the infusion set, as preliminary workfor infusion, as shown in FIG. 9 , a nurse first opens the clamp 209,and presses the drip chamber 200 to introduce saline A in the saline bag203 into the drip chamber 200 through the upstream tube 204. Next, thenurse opens the roller clip 207, and supplies the saline A in the dripchamber 200 to the tip connector 210 of the tube 206 from the dripchamber 200. This is because it is necessary to remove gas in in thetube 206 in advance to prevent bubbles from being mixed into the body ofthe patient and, when blood is supplied to the drip chamber 200 first, afilter 211 of the drip chamber 200 may be clogged, and hence it isnecessary to introduce the saline A to the filter 211 of the dripchamber 200 in advance to dilute blood.

When infusion is started, as shown in FIG. 10 , the nurse opens theclamp 208 after closing the clamp 209 to introduce blood B in the bloodbag 201 into the drip chamber 200, and the saline A and diluted blood B′are thereby introduced into the drip chamber 200. Subsequently, thenurse sets the tube 206 in a pump device 212, and connects the tipconnector 210 of the tube 206 to the indwelling needle which is alreadyinserted into the patient. The nurse then operates the pump device 212to cause blood in the blood bag 201 to flow to the tip connector 210 ofthe tube 206 from the drip chamber 200 and supply the blood to thepatient.

SUMMARY

However, as shown in FIG. 10 , when infusion is started, the saline Afilled in the tube 206 is supplied to the patient first, the blood B′diluted with the saline in the drip chamber 200 or the like is suppliedto the patient next, and the pure blood B which does not contain thesaline is supplied to the patient thereafter. At this point, it takesabout 15 minutes before all of the saline A in the tube 206 isintroduced into the body of the patient and the supply of the pure bloodB into the body of the patient is started.

The nurse needs to see whether or not the patient shows rejection forabout 15 minutes from the start of supply of the pure blood B to thepatient in order to determine whether or not the blood serving as theinfusion solution is compatible with the patient. Therefore, the nurseneeds to continuously observe the state of the infusion in a sickroomfor about 15 minutes from the start of introduction of the pure blood Binto the patient in addition to about 15 minutes from when the infusionis started until when all of the saline A in the entire tube 206 isintroduced into the patient and the introduction of the diluted blood B′in the drip chamber 200 into the patient is ended.

Thus, in the infusion which uses the conventional infusion set, a longperiod of time is required from when the preliminary work for theinfusion is started until when it is determined whether or not therejection of the patient is present, working time of the nurse is long,and the burden of the nurse is increased.

The present invention is achieved in view of such points, and an objectthereof is to provide an infusion set capable of significantly reducinga period of time required for work of a worker such as a nurse duringinfusion.

An infusion set according to an aspect of the present inventionincludes: a drip chamber; a tube which is connected to an outlet of thedrip chamber; a flow rate adjustment part which is provided in the tube;and a clamp which is provided between the drip chamber and the flow rateadjustment part in the tube and is used for storing liquid in the dripchamber.

According to the present aspect, it is possible to significantly reducea period of time required for work of a worker during infusion.

The tube may have a section which can be mounted to an infusion pumpdevice, the flow rate adjustment part may be provided in the section ordownstream of the section, and the clamp may be provided upstream of thesection.

The tube may have: a first tube which can be mounted to the infusionpump device; a second tube which is connected to the outlet of the dripchamber and an inlet of the first tube; and a third tube which isconnected to an outlet of the first tube, the clamp may be provided inthe second tube, and the flow rate adjustment part may be provided inthe third tube.

The clamp may be provided at a position within 100 cm from the outlet ofthe drip chamber in the tube.

The clamp may be movable along the tube.

The infusion set may further include a clamp which is provided betweenthe flow rate adjustment part and the clamp in the tube and prevents afree flow.

The infusion set may further include: an upstream tube which isconnected to an inlet of the drip chamber and can be connected to aliquid bag; and a clamp which is provided in the upstream tube.

According to the present invention, it is possible to significantlyreduce a period of time required for work of a worker during infusion.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a schematic view showing an example of the structure of aninfusion set of the present embodiment;

FIG. 2 is an explanatory view showing an M clamp;

FIG. 3 is an explanatory view showing a state in which saline is put ina drip chamber of the infusion set of the present embodiment;

FIG. 4 is an explanatory view showing a state in which blood is suppliedto the drip chamber of the infusion set of the present embodiment andthe blood is diluted with the saline;

FIG. 5 is an explanatory view showing a state in which gas in a tube isremoved in the infusion set of the present embodiment;

FIG. 6 is an explanatory view showing a state when infusion of theinfusion set of the present embodiment is performed;

FIG. 7 is a schematic view showing an example of the structure of theinfusion set of another embodiment in the case where one upstream tubeis provided;

FIG. 8 is a schematic view showing the structure of a conventionalinfusion set;

FIG. 9 is an explanatory view showing a state in which a tube of theconventional infusion set is filled with saline; and

FIG. 10 is an explanatory view showing a state in which blood issupplied to a drip chamber of the conventional infusion set.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Hereinbelow, with reference to the drawings, preferred embodiments ofthe present invention will be described. Note that the same elements aredesignated by the same reference numerals, and the duplicate descriptionthereof will be omitted. In addition, dimensional ratios in the drawingsare not limited to those shown in the drawings. Further, the followingembodiments are shown by way of example only for explaining the presentinvention, and the present invention is not limited to the embodiments.

FIG. 1 is an explanatory view showing an example of the structure of aninfusion set 1 according to the present embodiment. The infusion set 1includes, e.g., a drip chamber 10, a tube 11 which is connected to anoutlet of the drip chamber 10, a roller clip 12 which is provided in thetube 11 and serves as a flow rate adjustment part, an M clamp 13 whichis provided between the drip chamber 10 and the roller clip 12 in thetube 11, a first upstream tube 14 which is connected to an inlet of thedrip chamber 10 and can be connected to a first bag 20, a secondupstream tube 15 which is connected to the inlet of the drip chamber 10and can be connected to a second bag 21, a first clamp 16 which isprovided in the first upstream tube 14, and a second clamp 17 which isprovided in the second upstream tube 15.

The drip chamber 10 has a cylindrical main body 30, has a dripping part31 in an upper portion of the main body 30, and has an outlet part 32 ina lower portion of the main body 30. The main body 30 is formed of softresin, and is structured to replace gas with liquid by being pressedwith a hand. In addition, the drip chamber 10 has a filter 33 forfiltering out impurities inside the main body 30. The drip chamber 10 isstructured such that s droplet is dripped from the dripping part 31, isstored in the main body 30 through the filter 33, and is discharged fromthe outlet part 32.

The tube 11 has a first tube 50 which can be mounted to, e.g., aninfusion pump device 40, a second tube 51 which is connected to theoutlet of the drip chamber 10 and an inlet of the first tube 50, and athird tube 52 which is connected to an outlet of the first tube 50.

For example, the first tube 50 is extended and mounted in the infusionpump device 40, and hence the first tube 50 is softer than the secondtube 51 and the third tube 52. For example, the first tube 50 hasconnectors 60 and 61 at both ends of the first tube 50. The firstconnector 60 on the upstream side connects the first tube 50 and thesecond tube 51. The second connector 61 on the downstream side connectsthe first tube 50 and the third tube 52. Note that it is possible tointegrate the first tube 50, the second tube 51, and the third tube 52into one tube by using the material of the first tube 50 as the materialof each of the second tube 51 and the third tube 52.

For example, each of the first connector 60 and the second connector 61has a mounting function for fitting the first tube 50 in the infusionpump device 40 to mount the first tube 50 to the infusion pump device40. The second connector 61 includes a function as a clamp for openingand closing the first tube 50 in the case of a malfunction such asopening of an operation panel of the infusion pump device 40. Forexample, the second connector 61 is structured to open the first tube 50when the first tube 50 is mounted to the infusion pump device 40. Notethat the infusion pump device 40 may be provided with, e.g., a lid whichis opened and closed when the first tube 50 is mounted and, at thispoint, the second connector 61 may include, e.g., a free flow preventionfunction which closes the first tube 50 when the lid of the infusionpump device 40 is opened. That is, in this case, the second connector 61functions as a clamp for preventing the free flow which can be attachedto the infusion pump device 40.

The third tube 52 has a tip connector 80 at an end portion on its outletside. The tip connector 80 can be connected to a connector of anindwelling needle attached to a patient side, or a connection tubeconnected to the connector of the indwelling needle.

The roller clip 12 is provided in the third tube 52. The roller clip 12is allowed to change the degree of opening of the third tube 52 toadjust the flow speed of liquid flowing in the tube 11 by manuallyturning a roller 12 a. Note that the roller clip 12 is movable along thethird tube 52 but cannot move to the first tube 50.

The M clamp 13 is provided in the second tube 51. The M clamp 13 has afunction of opening and closing the second tube 51. The M clamp 13 canbe used for storing saline and blood in the drip chamber 10 at the sametime. The M clamp 13 is provided, e.g., at a position within 100 cm fromthe outlet of the drip chamber 10 in the second tube 51, more preferablyat a position within 10 cm therefrom, even more preferably at a positionwithin 5 cm therefrom, and still even more preferably at a positionimmediately below the drip chamber 10. The M clamp 13 may beappropriately provided in the vicinity of the outlet of the drip chamber10, i.e., within 3 cm from the outlet of the drip chamber 10. As shownin FIG. 2 , the M clamp 13 has a substantially oval annular shape. The Mclamp 13 has clamping parts 13 a and 13 b which face each other with thesecond tube 51 interposed therebetween, and a holding part 13 c. The Mclamp 13 is allowed to close the second tube 51 by pressing the clampingparts 13 a and 13 b in a direction in which the clamping parts 13 a and13 b approach each other, and can hold its closed state with the holdingpart 13 c. In addition, disconnection of the holding part 13 c allowsthe clamping parts 13 a and 13 b to be moved away from each other, andthe M clamp 13 can open the second tube 51. The M clamp 13 is movablealong the tube 11. The M clamp 13 may also be fixed to a predeterminedposition of the tube 11. The M clamp 13 may be detachable from the tube11. In addition, the M clamp 13 is the clamp of a type different fromthose of the clamps 16 and 17.

The first upstream tube 14 has a connection part 90 which is used forinsertion into and connection to the first bag 20 at an end portion onits upstream side. Similarly, the second upstream tube 15 has aconnection part 91 which is used for insertion into and connection tothe second bag 21 at an end portion on its upstream side. In the presentembodiment, the first bag 20 is a blood bag in which blood B is stored,and the second bag 21 is a saline bag in which saline A is stored. Notethat the second bag 21 is not limited to the saline bag, and may also bea drug solution bag in which a drug solution other than the saline isstored.

The first clamp 16 and the second clamp 17 have functions of manuallyopening and closing the first upstream tube 14 and the second upstreamtube 15, respectively.

The infusion pump device 40 automatically controls the flow speed of theinfusion solution with programming, and can connect to, e.g., the firsttube 50 and send blood in the drip chamber 10 to the tip connector 80 ata predetermined set flow speed.

Next, a description will be given of a process of infusion which isperformed by using the infusion set 1 structured as described above.Before the first bag 20 (blood) is released from a blood bank, a workerserving as a nurse first closes the clamp 17, the M clamp 13, and theroller clip 12 of the infusion set 1 shown in FIG. 1 to close all tubes.At this point, the M clamp 13 closes the second tube 51 in the vicinityof an upper end of the second tube 51, i.e., at a position immediatelybelow the drip chamber 10 (a connection portion between the drip chamber10 and the second tube 51).

Next, the worker connects the connection part 91 of the second upstreamtube 15 to the second bag 21 serving as, e.g., the saline bag, and hangsthe second bag 21 from a stand for infusion (not shown). By opening thesecond clamp 17 to open the second upstream tube 15 and pressing themain body 30 of the drip chamber 10 to increase and decrease theinternal capacity of the main body 30, the worker causes the saline A inthe second bag 21 to flow into the drip chamber 10, as shown in FIG. 3 .At this point, the second tube 51 is closed at the position immediatelybelow the drip chamber 10 by the M clamp 13, and the saline A isprevented from flowing into the first tube 50 and the third tube 52 viathe second tube 51. When the saline A is stored in the drip chamber 10and the saline A penetrates into the filter 33, the worker closes thesecond clamp 17 to close the second upstream tube 15.

After checking documents such as a written approval for bloodtransfusion, the worker contacts the blood bank after determining thatthere is no abnormality by measuring blood pressure, respiratory rate,heart rate, and body temperature, and the blood bag is then released.After receiving the blood bag safely, the worker checks the patientname, patient number, blood type, and documents, and then connects theconnection part 90 of the first upstream tube 14 to the first bag 20serving as the blood bag, and hangs the first bag 20 from the stand forinfusion.

Next, the worker opens the first clamp 16 to open the first upstreamtube 14, presses the main body 30 of the drip chamber 10, and causes theblood B in the first bag 20 to flow into the drip chamber 10, as shownin FIG. 4 . At this point, the blood B having entered the drip chamber10 is mixed with the saline A which has been in the drip chamber 10, andbecomes blood B′ which is diluted with the saline A. In addition, thesecond tube 51 is closed at the position immediately below the dripchamber 10 by the M clamp 13, and hence the blood B′ stays in the dripchamber 10.

Subsequently, in a state in which the second clamp 17 is closed and thefirst clamp 16 is open, the worker opens the M clamp 13 to open thesecond tube 51, and opens the roller clip 12 to open the third tube 52.With this, as shown in FIG. 5 , the blood B′ in the drip chamber 10passes through the second tube 51, the first tube 50, and the third tube52 in this order, reaches the tip connector 80, washes away all gas inthe tube 11, and the gas is removed. Since the tube 11 is not providedin the infusion pump device 40, the gas is released into the air andresistance is low in the work for gas removal, and hence the work forgas removal is completed in a short period of time.

Subsequently, the worker attaches the first tube 50 to the infusion pumpdevice 40. At this point, the first connector 60 and the secondconnector 61 of the first tube 50 are fitted in predetermined portionsof the infusion pump device 40, and the first tube 50 is thereby fixedto the infusion pump device 40. Next, the worker performs programming ofsettings such as infusion speed or the like (e.g., 100 mL/hour) in theinfusion pump device 40, and connects the tip connector 80 of the tube11 to the connector 100 on the patient side, as shown in FIG. 6 . Theworker operates the infusion pump device 40 to start the infusion ofblood to the patient. At this point, while blood mixed with a very smallamount of saline is supplied to the patient, it is possible to quicklydetermine the presence or absence of rejection and side effects.

According to the present embodiment, the infusion set 1 includes thedrip chamber 10, the tube 11 which is connected to the outlet of thedrip chamber 10, the roller clip 12 which is provided in the tube 11,and the M clamp 13 which is provided between the drip chamber 10 and theroller clip 12 in the tube 11. With this, as shown in FIG. 3 , it ispossible to cause the saline A to enter the drip chamber 10 in the statein which the tube 11 is closed by the M clamp 13 provided between thedrip chamber 10 and the roller clip 12, and hence it is not necessary tofill the entire tube 11 positioned downstream of the drip chamber 10with the saline A. Consequently, work for filling an entire tube 206with saline A, which is performed in a conventional infusion set shownin FIG. 9 , is eliminated. When infusion is started, the blood B′diluted with the saline A shown in FIG. 5 and the pure blood B aresupplied to the patient in this order, and supply of blood after thesaline A filled in the tube 206 is supplied to the patient, which isperformed in the conventional infusion set shown in FIG. 10 , is notperformed. Consequently, it is possible to reduce a period of time fromwhen the infusion is started until when the supply of the pure blood Bto the patient is started, and reduce a period of time required tocomplete the determination of whether or not the rejection of thepatient is present. As a result, it is possible to significantly reducea period of time required for the work of the worker during infusion tothereby reduce actual working hours of the worker and reduce the burdenof the worker.

In addition, according to the present embodiment, unlike theconventional infusion set, it is not necessary to fill the entire tubewith the saline A, and hence it is possible to reduce the amount ofconsumption of the saline A.

The M clamp 13 is provided at the position, e.g., immediately below thedrip chamber 10 within 10 cm from the outlet of the drip chamber 10 inthe tube 11, and hence the amount of the blood B′ diluted with thesaline A is small, and timing at which the supply of the pure blood B tothe patient is started can be made earlier. Therefore, it is possible toreduce a period of time required for the work of the worker duringinfusion. In addition, it is possible to remove the gas by using theblood B′, and hence it is possible to connect the tube 11 to theconnector 100 on the patient side immediately after the removal tointroduce the blood B into the patient. As a result, it is possible toprevent an unsanitary and improper act in which, in order to quicklyremove the saline in the tube and the diluted solution of the blooddiluted with the saline, the saline in the tube and the diluted solutionare dumped in a trash box in advance.

While the tube 11 has the first tube 50, the second tube 51, and thethird tube 52 in the above embodiment, the tube 11 may be formed of onecontinuous tube, and may not be constituted by a plurality of tubes. Inthis case, in the tube 11, a clamp with a free flow prevention functionmay be provided between the roller clip 12 and the M clamp 13.

In addition, while the roller clip 12 is provided downstream of asection (the first tube 50) of the tube 11 to which the infusion pumpdevice 40 is mounted in the above embodiment, the roller clip 12 may beprovided in the section of the tube 11 to which the infusion pump device40 is mounted. Also in this case, the M clamp 13 is provided upstream ofthe section of the tube 11 to which the infusion pump device 40 ismounted.

The infusion set 1 may include, in advance, the first upstream tube 14,the second upstream tube 15, the first clamp 16, and the second clamp 17as in the above embodiment or, instead of including them, a set of thefirst upstream tube 14, the second upstream tube 15, the first clamp 16,and the second clamp 17 which is prepared separately may be used incombination with the infusion set.

While the infusion set 1 includes two sets of the upstream tube and theclamp, the infusion set 1 may also include one upstream tube 120 whichis connected to the inlet of the drip chamber 10 as shown in FIG. 7 andcan be connected to the liquid bag 20 (21), and a clamp 121 which isprovided in the upstream tube 120. In such a case, the upstream tube 120may be connected to the second bag 21 serving as the saline bag firstand, after the second bag 21 is replaced with the first bag 20, theupstream tube 120 may be then connected to the first bag 20 serving asthe blood bag. Note that the structures of the other portions of theinfusion set 1 of the present aspect may be similar to, e.g., those inthe above embodiment.

In the above embodiment, the flow rate adjustment part is not limited tothe roller clip, and may also be, e.g., a one-touch clip or a slideclip. In the infusion set 1, the tube 11 may be mounted to the infusionpump device 40 or may not be mounted to the infusion pump device 40. Theinfusion set 1 can be applied not only to the case where bloodtransfusion is performed but also to the case where a drug or the likeis infused. The drug solution supplied to the drip chamber 10 describedin the above embodiment is not limited to the saline A.

According to the present invention, it is possible to provide theinfusion set capable of significantly reducing a period of time requiredfor the work of the worker during infusion.

What is claimed is:
 1. An infusion method using an infusion set, whereinthe infusion set includes: a drip chamber; a first upstream tube whichconnects a blood bag and an inlet of the drip chamber; a second upstreamtube which connects a saline bag and the inlet of the drip chamber; atube which is connected to an outlet of the drip chamber; a clip whichis provided in the tube; a clamp which is provided between the dripchamber and the clip in the tube; a first upstream clamp which isprovided in the first upstream tube; and a second upstream clamp whichis provided in the second upstream tube, the infusion method comprising:a first step of, in a state in which the clamp and the first upstreamclamp are closed, opening the second upstream clamp to supply saline inthe saline bag through the second upstream tube to the drip chamberwhile preventing the saline in the drip chamber from flowing into thetube by the closed clamp; a second step of, in a state in which theclamp and the second upstream clamp are closed, opening the firstupstream clamp to supply blood in the blood bag through the firstupstream tube to the drip chamber and produce diluted blood with thesaline in the drip chamber while preventing the diluted blood in thedrip chamber from flowing into the tube by the closed clamp; and a thirdstep of, in a state in which the second upstream clamp is closed,opening the clamp, the first upstream clamp and the clip to supply thediluted blood in the drip bag through the tube to a tip end of the tubeand thereby remove a gas in the tube.
 2. The infusion method accordingto claim 1, further comprising: a fourth step of mounting a section ofthe tube between the clamp and the clip to an infusion pump device; anda fifth step of operating the infusion pump device to perform infusion.3. The infusion method according to claim 1, wherein the clamp clampsthe tube at a position within 10 cm from the outlet of the drip chamberin the tube.
 4. The infusion method according to claim 1, wherein thefirst step includes supplying the saline to the drip chamber byincreasing and decreasing an internal capacity of the drip chamber. 5.The infusion method according to claim 1, wherein the second stepincludes supplying the blood to the drip chamber by increasing anddecreasing an internal capacity of the drip chamber.